Weinschenk V. State of Missouri
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No. SC88039 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI KATHLEEN WEINSCHENK, et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. STATE OF MISSOURI, et al., Defendants-Appellants. Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri Case Nos. 06AC-CC00587 & 06AC-CC00656 – Richard G. Callahan, Judge INTERVENOR-APPELLANT’S OPENING BRIEF James B. Deutsch (27093) Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II (37707) BLITZ BARDGETT & DEUTSCH, L.C. LATHROP & GAGE L.C. 308 E. High Street, Suite 301 The Equitable Building, Suite 1300 Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 10 South Broadway (573) 634-2500 Fax: (573) 573-3358 St. Louis, Missouri 63102-1708 (314) 613-2500 Fax: (314) 613-2550 Alok Ahuja (43550) LATHROP & GAGE L.C. 2345 Grand Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64108-2684 (816) 292-2000 Fax: (816) 292-2001 ATTORNEYS FOR INTERVENOR-APPELLANTS Dated: September 28, 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .....................................................................................6 JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT ........................................................................10 STATEMENT OF FACTS ......................................................................................11 A. Missouri Voter Identification Requirements Before Adoption of the MVPA............................................................................................13 B. Missouri’s Voter Identification Requirements After the Adoption of the MVPA.......................................................................14 C. The Consolidated Cole County Challenge To Voter Identification .......................................................................................20 D. The Plaintiff’s Evidence In Opposition To (Section) ?? Voter Identification Requirements. ...............................................................22 E. The Defendants and Intervenors Evidence In Support of The (§ 115.427) Voter Identification Requirements. .................................23 F. The Circuit Court’s Decision ..............................................................31 POINTS RELIED ON..............................................................................................35 ARGUMENT ...........................................................................................................37 1 -} I. The Circuit Court Applied the Wrong Standard of Review is that the Challenged MVPA Provisions Are not Subject to Strict Scrutiny, but Are Lawful Because they Impose Reasonable, Non-Discriminatory Restrictions Furthering Important State Regulatory Interests.......................38 A. Application of Strict Scrutiny is Inconsistent with a Long Line of Missouri Election-Law Decisions...................................................39 B. Strict Scrutiny Is Inapplicable Here Under Federal Law....................47 C. The State Need not Identify Past Cases of Actual Fraud the that Photo ID Requirements Prevent; the Legislature Is Entitled to Enact Restrictions to Prevent Fraud and Increase Voter Confidence in the Electoral Process....................................................53 D. The Legislature Need not Address All Possible Sources of Voter Fraud in the Same Enactment. ..................................................55 E. The Fact that Particular, Hypothetical Voters May not Be Able To Comply with the Photo ID Requirement Is not Ground for Invalidating the Law............................................................................57 II. The Missouri Legislature Adopted The Voter Identification Provisions of the Missouri Voter Protection Act In Pursuit Of Compelling State Interests, In Preventing Vote Fraud and Increasing Voter Confidence.........60 A. Missouri Has An Unfortunate History Of Actual Vote Fraud............61 2 -} B. Missouri’s Voter Rolls Are Currently Bloated With Names Of Duplicate, Dead And Ineligible Voters and This Makes Missouri Elections Susceptible To Vote Fraud...................................66 C. Restoring Public Confidence In Missouri Elections Is A Compelling State Interest....................................................................69 D. Voter Photo Identification Requirement Enjoys Broad Public Support As A Measure To Build Confidence In The Election Process.................................................................................................70 1. Voter Identification Requirements Enjoy Broad Bi-Partisan Consensus............................................................................................72 2. As the Trial Court Found, The Voter Identification Provisions Of The MVPA Did Not Have A Purposeful Disparate Impact On Any Protected Group And Was Not Motivated By Any Partisan Or Invidious Race-Based Agenda.........................................74 3 -} III. Voter ID not an undue burden .......................................................................80 A. The MVPA provides a 2-year transition period for voters to obtain a free photo ID..........................................................................80 B. The Experience of Indiana Voters With That State’s Stricter Photo Identification Requirements Demonstrates That Photo Identification Requirements Do Not Impose A Burden On Legitimate Voters................................................................................82 C. Only about 19,000 Missourians Do Not Already Possess State- Issued Photo Identification..................................................................83 IV. The Cost Of Obtaining A Certified Birth Certificate Is Not A “Poll Tax” And This Argument Has Been Rejected By Every Court To Consider The Argument ................................................................................84 V. Voter ID not An Additional Qualification To Vote ......................................90 VI. No Remedy is Available, Under the Hancock Amendment, for Boone, Jackson, and St. Louis Counties Because Such a Remedy Would Violate Federal Equal Protection Requirements by Establishing Different Voter Identification Requirements in Different Counties. ............93 4 -} A. Even if it Were Otherwise Sufficient, Evidence Concerning Supposedly Increased Administrative Costs in Boone, Jackson, and St. Louis Counties Could only Justify Relief in those Counties, not State-Wide.....................................................................94 B. The Equal Protection Clause of the Federal Constitution Prohibits Missouri Courts from Implementing a Remedy which Would Have the Effect of Imposing Different Voter Identification Requirements in Different Counties.............................96 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................99 5 -} TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page Cases ACORN v. Bysiewicz, 413 F. Supp.2d 119 (D. Conn. 2005).............................52, 58 Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983).........................................................52 Ayres-Schaffner v. DiStefano, 37 F.3d 726 (1st Cir. 1994) .....................................90 Bay County Democratic Party v. Land, 347 F. Supp.2d 404 (E.D. Mich. 2004) ...................................................52, 58 Brooks v. State, 128 S.W.2d 844 (Mo.banc 2004) ......................................93, 94, 95 Bullock v. Carter, 405 U.S. 134 (1972) ...................................................................52 Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992).........................................36, 47, 48, 50, 52 Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)......................................................................97, 98 City of Jefferson v. Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 863 S.W.2d 844 (Mo. banc 1993) ...........................................................93, 94 Clingman v. Beaver, 544 U.S. 581 (2005).............................................36, 50, 51, 59 Common Cause v. Billips, 439 F.Supp.2d 1294 (N.D. Ga. 2006).........81, 84, 86, 87 Division of Employment Security v. Taney County Dist. R-III, 922 S.W.2d 391 (Mo. banc 1996) .................................................................94 Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330 (1972).................................................................97 Federal Election Comm’n v. National Right to Work Comm., 459 U.S. 197 (1982).......................................................................................54 6 -} Gilmore v. Gonzales, 440 F.3d 1168 (9th Cir. 2005) ..............................................88 Gonzalez v. Arizona, 435 F Supp. 2d 997 (D. Ariz. 2006)................................91, 92 Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368 (1963).....................................................................98 Greidinger v. Davis, 988 F.2d 1344 (4th Cir. 1993) .........................................58, 89 Griffin v. Roupas, 384 F.3d 1128 (7th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 923 (2005)......................................................57, 58, 66 Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, 2006 WL 1005037 (S.D. Ind.).....................................................79, 86, 87, 88 League of Women Voters v. Blackwell, 340 F. Supp.2d 823 (N.D. Ohio 2004) ....................................................52, 58 McConnell v. Federal Election Comm’n, 540 U.S. 93 (2003) ................................54 McdONALD V. Board of Election Com'rs of Chicago, 394 U.S. 802 (1969).......................................................................................56 McKay v. Thompson, 226 F.3d 752 (6th Cir. 2000) ..........................................58, 89 Miller v. Director of Revenue, 719 S.W.2d 787 (Mo. banc 1986) ..........................94 Munro v. Socialist